Vitaly Bianki facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vitaly Bianki
Soviet writer Vitaly Bianki in 1938
Born	30 January 1894 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	28 May 1959 (aged 65) Leningrad, USSR
Occupation	Writer, teacher
Genre	Natural history Children's literature

Vitaly Valentinovich Bianki (Russian: Вита́лий Валенти́нович Биа́нки) was a very popular Russian children's writer. He wrote many books about nature. He was born on February 11, 1894, in St. Petersburg, and passed away on June 10, 1959, in Leningrad.

Early Life and His Love for Nature

Vitaly Bianki's father, Valentin Lvovich Bianchi, was an ornithologist, which means he studied birds. He worked at the Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vitaly and his brothers spent a lot of time in the museum's halls, surrounded by nature.

From a young age, Vitaly loved being outdoors. He went on his first trip to the forest during a summer vacation and became very passionate about nature. He studied natural science at Petrograd University, focusing on birds, just like his father. He also studied art to help him draw plants and animals accurately.

During a time of big changes in Russia, Vitaly traveled a lot. He worked in different places, including a regional museum in Biysk, where he was the director. He also taught at a school. These experiences helped him learn even more about the world around him.

Becoming a Nature Writer

Vitaly Bianki went on many scientific trips to places like the Volga, Altai Krai, Urals, and Kazakhstan. He took many notes about what he saw. He felt that these notes were just facts, like the "dead animals" in a museum. He wanted to bring them to life with his words, to make the forest and its creatures seem real and exciting.

In 1923, Vitaly started writing for a magazine called Sparrow (later New Robinson). He created a "natural calendar" that showed what was happening in nature throughout the year. This idea later became his famous book, Forest Newspaper for Every Year.

He joined a group of writers who wrote for children, including famous authors like Chukovsky, Zhitkov, and Marshak. Soon, his first story, "The Red Sparrow Traveling," was published. His first book for children was called Whose nose is better? (1923).

His book Forest Newspaper for Every Year (first published in 1928) is like a special encyclopedia about forest life and all the animals that live there. It helps young readers understand nature in a fun way.

Vitaly Bianki faced some difficult times, including being arrested a few times. However, he was always released and continued his important work. During World War II, he was evacuated to the Urals because of his health, but he returned to Leningrad after the war.

Vitaly Bianki wrote more than three hundred short stories, fairy tales, and articles, which fill 120 books! He inspired many other nature writers, including Nikolai Sladkov.

Vitaly Bianki passed away in Leningrad and was buried in the Bogoslovskoe Cemetery. His stories continue to teach children about the wonders of nature.

Selected Works for Children

• Anyutka's duck
• Water horse
• Where crayfish winter
• Eyes and ears
• Green pond
• As the little antz to home hurried
• As I wanted to fill to a hare of salt on a tail
• Red hill
• Who than sings?
• Kuzyar the chipmunk and Inoyka the bear
• Little cuckoo
• Forest houses
• Forest scouts
• Lyulya
• Max
• Little mouse Pik
• Heavenly elephant
• Orange neck
• First hunting
• Sundew — mosquito's death
• The fish house (written with Anna Akimkina)
• Snow book
• Owl
• Little terem
• Terentiy the black grouse
• Tails
• Whose nose is better?
• Whose it is feet?